John Settle is in his sixth season since returning to the Wisconsin football program in 2015 and his 11th season overall as the Badgers’ running backs coach.
His return to Wisconsin has been as successful one, with the Badgers going a combined 52-16, claiming three Big Ten West Division titles and scoring four bowl game wins in the Holiday, Cotton, Orange and Pinstripe bowls over the last five seasons.
Settle’s latest success story is Jonathan Taylor, the two-time unanimous first-team All-American and two-time Doak Walker Award winner who finished in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy voting three times and put together one of the best careers by a running back in college football history.
In just three seasons, Taylor rushed for a staggering 6,174 yards — the highest three-year total by any player, by a margin of more than 500 yards — to rank sixth on the FBS all-time rushing list.
He recorded his second consecutive 2,000-yard season as a junior in 2019 while leading the nation in scoring with 26 touchdowns. That came after rushing for 2,194 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2018, when he led the country in rushing at 168.8 yards per game — 22 yards ahead of second place on that list.
Taylor’s tremendous rookie season in 2017 saw him break Adrian Peterson’s FBS freshman rushing record by racking up 1,977 yards and 13 TDs.
Taylor, a second-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in the 2020 NFL Draft, gives Settle six former pupils currently playing in the NFL: tailbacks Taylor, Corey Clement, Dare Ogunbowale and James White and fullbacks Alec Ingold and Derek Watt.
Clement bounced back from an injury-riddled junior season to rush for 1,375 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior in 2016 on his way to first-team All-Big Ten honors. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and led the Super Bowl champions in rushing touchdowns while getting the second-most carries of any back. Clement tallied 100 receiving yards and scored a key touchdown in the Eagles’ win over New England in Super Bowl LII.
Ogunbowale, a former walk-on and converted defensive back, developed into a rushing, receiving and blocking threat under Settle’s direction. He signed a free agent deal with the Houston Texans and ended his rookie season on Washington’s active roster before moving on to Tampa Bay, where he was named a team captain in 2019.
White has won three Super Bowl titles in six seasons in New England. He played a heroic role in the Patriots’ epic comeback in Super Bowl LI, setting Super Bowl records for receptions (14) and points scored (20), including the game-winning touchdown run in overtime.
White was one of the stars of Settle’s first stint at Wisconsin, which saw him serve five years as running backs coach under then-offensive coordinator Paul Chryst, from 2006-10.
In 2010, Wisconsin nearly became the first team in FBS history to have three different running backs rush for at least 1,000 yards in the same season. White, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, led the Badgers with 1,052 yards, Clay chipped in with 1,012 yards and sophomore Montee Ball fell just four yards shy of 1,000, running for 996 yards. UW averaged 245.7 rushing yards per game on its way to a Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Ball would go on to rush for 5,140 yards (third-best in school history), win the Doak Walker Award and be named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
In his first season at UW, in 2006, Settle tutored another Big Ten Freshman of the Year in P.J. Hill, who led the Big Ten and ranked fifth in the country with 1,569 rushing yards. Hill would go on to top the 1,000-yard mark in three different seasons.
In 2008, behind the tandem of Hill and freshman John Clay (2,045 yards between them), Wisconsin led the Big Ten in rushing offense. When Clay became the featured back in 2009, he flourished, winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors, leading the Big Ten and ranking eighth in the country with 1,517 yards. The Badgers again led the conference in rushing offense.
Settle also has coached four fullbacks who have gone on to play in the NFL. Chris Pressley played five seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bradie Ewing was taken in the fifth round by the Atlanta Falcons in 2012, Watt was drafted by the Chargers in 2016 before moving to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ingold became a key contributor to the Raiders as a rookie in 2019.
After leaving UW, Settle coached for three seasons in the NFL, two with the Carolina Panthers (2011-12) and one with the Cleveland Browns (2013). Carolina made history in 2011, becoming the first team to feature three 700-yard rushers, and posting a franchise-record 5.4 yards per carry.
He then spent one season at Pittsburgh under Chryst, helping running back James Connor earn 2014 ACC Player of the Year honors.
Prior to his first run at Wisconsin, Settle served eight seasons as running backs coach at Fresno State, where he tutored six 1,000-yard rushers.
Settle had a three-year stint (1995-98) as an offensive assistant with the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens franchise under head coaches Bill Belicheck and Ted Marchibroda.
Settle was a four-year letterwinner (1983-86) as a running back at Appalachian State, where he played one season for head coach Mack Brown and another three years for Sparky Woods. Settle finished as the school’s career rushing leader with 4,409 yards (then third-most in FCS history) and 43 touchdowns. A two-time All-American, he was the Southern Conference Player of the Year as a senior after rushing for 1,661 yards and 20 TDs.
Settle signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent and played six seasons in the NFL, including four with Atlanta (1987-90) and two with Washington. A Pro Bowl selection in 1988, he accumulated 1,594 yards of total offense (1,024 rushing and 570 receiving) and became the first undrafted free agent in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He also played for Washington’s Super Bowl-winning team in 1991.
A 1989 graduate of Appalachian State with a degree in criminal justice, Settle and his wife, Karen, have three children: Jonathan, Leighton and Devynn. Settle’s No. 23 was retired by his alma mater and he was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 1994.
